


Respect

by Theoroark



Series: Reunion [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Adorable Pajamas, Arguing, F/F, Flirting, Getting Together, Medical Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 05:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14687441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theoroark/pseuds/Theoroark
Summary: Sombra being cheerful after a failed mission was never a good sign. But Reyes hadn’t said anything to her, and Sombra was going about life as normal– attending meetings, turning in her intel, and showing up for their normal practice sessions. Widow saw no reason to upturn the cart. Not when she didn’t yet quite know what she was getting out of it.





	Respect

“You’re in a good mood,” Widow said. She said it with all the dread appropriate to Sombra’s good moods, but Sombra just smiled and laughed anyway. 

 

“Made a new friend,” she said, and laughed again when Widow rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. You’re still my bestie.”

 

“Good to know,” she muttered, and brought her water bottle up to her mouth before Sombra could see the upturn of her lips. Sombra being cheerful after a failed mission was never a good sign. But Reyes hadn’t said anything to her, and Sombra was going about life as normal– attending meetings, turning in her intel, and showing up for their normal practice sessions. Even if she did have the distracting ability to chat, unwinded, while they were on treadmills. Widow saw no reason to upturn the cart. Not when she didn’t yet quite know what she was getting out of it. 

 

“So hey.” Sombra’s machine beeped, and she slowed to a stop, leaning against the bars. “I got a question.”

 

“Shoot,” Widow said. She had started a minute later than Sombra, but Sombra seemed content to wait for her. 

 

“You have a tarantula?”

 

Widow stopped momentarily, and nearly fell off the treadmill as she corrected. “What?”

 

“I was thinking of getting some kind of pet,” Sombra said, as though this were a perfectly normal conversation. “And I thought tarantula might be a good idea. It’s cool. And I mean, it’s a bug. It can’t be too high maintenance. Plus Akande hates them, so I feel like there’s a lot of prank potential there.”

 

“That seems like a good way to get a dead tarantula.”

 

“Fair,” Sombra conceded. Widow’s machine dinged, and Widow followed Sombra to the locker room. “But anyway. You got the whole spider motif going. I figured I should ask.”

 

“No, Sombra. I’m a normal human being, so I have never owned a tarantula.”

 

“A normal human being who lowkey has a spider fursona.” Widow scowled and elbowed at her, but Sombra danced out of the way. “Kidding, kidding! Mostly.”

 

“It’s a theme,” Widow grumbled, opening her locker. “Like a black widow, yes?”

 

“Whatever you say.”

 

“If you do get one, what would you even do with it?” she asked, eager to change the topic. “Can you play with them or anything?”

 

“I dunno,” Sombra admitted. “I guess I’d mainly been focused on the prank angle.”

 

“If you get one and it ends up in my bed, both of you are dead.” Sombra laughed. 

 

“Trust me, Widow. The spider’s not the one I want in your bed.”

 

She shut her locker door and looked over just as Sombra was taking off her shirt. 

 

Okay, maybe she had some idea what she was getting out of this. 

 

-

 

Despite her good mood, Sombra stuck to all her routines. Including eating lunch in the base’s canteen with Widow. She had initially eaten all her meals in her quarters– rice and thin steaks brought to her room and consumed in silence. But Sombra had suggested to her, and when Widow had responded with disdain, she had shrugged and said, “Well, the people watching’s good. You hear a lot of gossip down there. Kind of useful, actually. But to each her own.”

 

And so now, Widow stood in line with shambling Talon grunts, took the salad mandated by her meal plan, and sat down at Sombra’s table. 

 

“Hey, so. Quick question.” Widow set down her fork and raised an eyebrow. Sombra waved a hand over her. “What’s with all the spandex?”

 

Widow looked down at her effectively shrink wrapped cleavage. “It was the uniform they gave me.”

 

“Yeah, but it seems like… super uncomfortable.”

 

“I was a ballerina before this, Sombra. This is practically pajamas.”

 

“That’s not a good reason. Also, it seems really impractical. Where do you even keep your hook?”

 

Widow frowned, stirring her fork in her salad. “I have a belt.”

 

“Well, if you ever want some cargo pants, I’m sure Gabe would get you some.” Sombra looked critically between her full tray and Widow’s bowl of lettuce. “You want my cookie or something?”

 

“I’m fine, okay?” Widow snapped. Sombra quickly dropped the cookie and nodded. 

 

“Right. Sorry.” Widow nodded, and they ate in silence for a few minutes. Widow looked up. Sombra was slowly twirling her pesto. Widow sighed and held out her hand. 

 

“Give me the cookie.” Sombra looked up, surprised, and then grinned and tossed it to her. Widow caught it easily. 

 

“I’m a good baker,” she said, as Widow nibbled on it. “So if you ever want more cookie…”

 

“You’re an absolute asshole,” Widow muttered, and Sombra laughed. Widow couldn’t help smiling. 

 

-

 

Despite Sombra’s good mood, life on base continued as normal. Which meant that Widow went to her monthly checkup with Moira, as was scheduled. 

 

“Last month you said your back was bothering you,” Moira said, flicking through her notes. “Is that still the case?” She looked up from her holovid and Widow was acutely aware that the paper gown she was wearing was short and delicate, that the sensors laid all over her skin meant Moira knew more about her than she could ever hope to know, and that last night she had spent too long in the shower debating whether or not she should shave her legs before this. 

 

“No,” Widow said. “I believe it was just from the fall I had. I feel fine now.”

 

“Good. Let us know if it returns. We may need to change your footwear.” Moira returned to looking down at her holovid. “Have you been following the diet and exercise regime given to you?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Have you been using the regenerative salve, to reduce the risk of gangrene?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“How much have you been drinking?”

 

“Ye–” Widow stumbled and she could just see the quirk of Moira’s mouth. The paper gown crinkled in her fist. “The usual amount,” she mumbled. 

 

“Too much, then,” Moira said. She made a note on her holovid. “You know if it starts affecting your work, we will have to increase monitoring of your quarters.”

 

“I know,” Widow said. She wondered if the sensors picked up the small jolt of fear she felt at that. “It won’t.”

 

“See that it doesn’t,” Moira said. “Are you using any other substances.”

 

“No.”

 

“Are you sexually active?”

 

Moira asked her this every time, and every time Widow was transported back to being sixteen and sitting before her family pediatrician. “No,” she said, because she wasn’t. Sombra might come over to her quarters sometimes, and they might put on an awful movie and drink wine and make fun of it. Widow might end up on Sombra’s lap halfway through those movies, kissing her fiercely. Sombra might be waiting for her in her quarters right now. But she hadn’t done anything that would be considered sex, she didn’t think. 

 

There must have been some uncertainty in her voice, though, because Moira looked up from her holovid again. “Have you been involved with anyone?” she asked. 

 

“I haven’t had sex,” Widow said dully. 

 

“That wasn’t the question, Lacroix.” Moira’s nostrils flared and Widow wondered if the sensors were picking up on her irritation. “Knowing your sexual activity is vital to your maintenance.”

 

“I told you,” Widow said. “I haven’t had sex.”

 

“Are you involved with anyone, Lacroix!” Widow jolted in her seat and this time she could see the little blip on one of the feeds on Moira’s holovid. “I won’t ask again.”

 

Widow opened her mouth. And then, a fire alarm went off. 

 

Moira wheeled around, desperately scanning her lab for any threat to her research. Widow looked up at the flashing lights on the ceiling and pushed off the examination table uncertainly. 

 

“Can I evacuate?” she asked, fingers on the wires of the sensors. 

 

“Yes, yes,” Moira said, far more focused on backing up her data. “Go. I have everything I need.”

 

Widow nodded. She ripped off the nodes in a clean tear, gathered her clothes up in her arms, and left. She changed in the nearest bathroom and stuffed the paper gown in the trash. Then she followed the horde of Talon employees rushing out of the building. 

 

-

 

After a couple hours, the alarm was deemed false, and they were allowed back into the building. Sombra was waiting for her in her quarters and she was practically giddy.

 

“What’s going on?” she asked, with a patently affected casualness. Widow raised an eyebrow. 

 

“Uh. Fire alarm?” She eyed Sombra over critically. She seemed quite comfortable on her sofa, a glass of wine in one hand and a projected screen in the other. “Did you not evacuate?”

 

“I didn’t smell smoke,” Sombra said. She was wearing a massive smile. “But that sure was good timing, huh? Got you out of Moira’s early.”

 

“Yes,” Widow said slowly. 

 

“Well then.” Sombra set her glass down and practically bounced up, and trotted over to Widow. “I guess someone up there likes you.”

 

Widow stared at her. “You did this?”

 

“Whoops.” Sombra laughed and pecked her cheek. Widow did not move. “Sorry, should have warned you, she’s just such a prick, and your vitals were all stressed, for you anyway–”

 

“You were listening?”

 

Sombra took a step back and finally seemed to see Widow’s rigid posture and stony face. Her eyes widened. “I– no, not listening I just– I hacked her holovid.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Like, I wasn’t watching, I’m not like–”

 

“Not like Moira?” Sombra flinched and Widow’s lip curled. “Well, you were getting all the answers to the questions that ‘prick’ was asking. So what, exactly, are you?”

 

“Widow, I–” Sombra took a step towards her again and Widow took a large step back. Sombra froze. “Widow, I was just trying to help. I was just trying to get you out of there.”

 

“I don’t know why. You could have gotten so much more intel on me, if I had stayed.”

 

“That’s not what I want,” Sombra said softly. Her face had crumpled. Widow turned her back on her and walked to her kitchen. 

 

“You could have fooled me.” She took the cork out of the wine bottle Sombra had left on the counter, and poured herself a glass. “I’m tired. Waiting around outside was very boring. You should go.”

 

She kept her eyes trained on her wine glass so she heard rather than saw Sombra leave, closing the door quietly behind her. 

 

-

 

At midnight, Widow got a text from Sombra. Even without being able to hear her voice, she could tell Sombra was no longer happy. 

 

>Hey. Can we talk?

>On the roof. That’s neutral ground. That’s supposed to be good for this stuff. 

>And you know I don’t have surveillance there. 

 

Widow lay in bed and stared at her holovid. Even if Sombra felt bad, she had no reason to go. She didn’t even know why she was angry at her. She didn’t even know what she was getting out of this anymore. 

 

She got out of bed and headed up. 

 

“So I guess you don’t wear spandex as pajamas after all,” Sombra said when Widow walked out onto the roof. Widow looked down at her boxers and camisole, and then looked up, impassively, at Sombra. Sombra swallowed. 

 

“Right.” She took a step towards Widow. “I’m–”

 

“Wait.” Widow held up a finger and Sombra’s mouth snapped shut. 

 

“I don’t know why I’m angry with you,” she said. Sombra nodded mutely. “But I want to know. And so I want to figure that out, first.”

 

Sombra nodded again. Widow sat down on the concrete and after a moment’s hesitation, Sombra sat down across from her. Widow tilted her head up to the stars and thought. 

 

“I thought it was different,” she said finally. “I thought you saw me differently than how you see most people, and I thought you saw me differently than most people see me. I thought I would be the kind of person you didn’t snoop on, and you would be the kind of person who saw me as a person. I’m disappointed, I guess.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Sombra said softly. “I think you’re better than them, Widow. I like you better than them. But I understand if who I am doesn’t work here. And I’m sorry.”

 

Widow nodded, unsure of what to say. Sombra fiddled with the bottom button of her shirt– she was wearing a flannel matching set, Widow noticed for the first time. It was cute. 

 

“My name’s Olivia,” Sombra said suddenly. Widow stared at her. 

 

“What?”

 

“I mean, it’s not really my name.” Sombra’s words were coming out rushed. “No one calls me that anymore, and I wouldn’t want them too, even if it wasn’t a security risk. But it was my– well, not my birth name, but my deadname’s not important. It’s who I was, before, I guess. It’s what some of the old folks and young kids in Dorado still know me as. And it’s…”

 

She petered out and stared at Widow a little desperately. 

 

“Why are you telling me this?” Widow asked. 

 

“Because I want us to be even,” Sombra said. She scooted closer to Widow, and Widow leaned in despite herself. “I’m a spy and a hacker, Widow, but you’re– you should–” She rubbed her forehead with the heel of her hand and, without thinking, Widow set a hand on her knee. “I don’t want to be another person who doesn’t care what you want, Widow, because I do. I thought I was doing that but I should have asked. Especially with– what she does–”

 

She looked up at Widow with wide, shining eyes. “I want us to be even,” she said. “And I don’t know what this is but whatever we are, I want us to be equals. And so I was Olivia and I’m sorry.”

 

Widow leaned in and kissed her, and felt Sombra stiffen in surprise and then relax into it. 

 

“Equals,” Widow repeated when she pulled away. Sombra nodded and she smiled slyly. Sombra eyed her suspiciously. 

 

“What?”

 

“You should be so lucky.” Sombra groaned and elbowed at her, but Widow laughed and dodged out of the way. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm @tacticalgrandma on tumblr if you want to talk to me there.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and any comments/kudos would mean the world to me <3


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